I used to joke in my last job, that DNS was the root of all problems in an Active Directory domain. Whilst this was not 100% accurate, 9 out of 10 times I said it, I was right. DNS – most of us have probably heard of it and we may even know what the initials stand for but is it necessary for us all to understand it in some form?

I believe the answer is no – unless you are in the business of making changes to Web sites; are a systems administrator; computer engineer; or in some other from of IT support that causes you to come across DNS.

There are a myriad of sites out there that can tell you what DNS is and why you might want it and even how you go about making changes. Here’s a Google search to get you started. For the truly masochistic amongst you, then have a look at RFC1034 for more detail than you can shake a stick at.

For those more human, let me just say you can equate DNS to your post or zip code. When delivering snail mail, the most reliable way we are told is to ensure we include the recipients’ post code – this pinpoints an area of the country down to a set area which usually includes a few houses. The precise location is then usually targeted with a house number or name. I guess the system is similar in America though I don’t know.

Well DNS is just the network version of a post code. It helps to identify a specific machine but more than this it also helps to make mere mortal lives easier by allowing us to type in www.google.co.uk (or even just google.co.uk – but that’s another DNS story) rather than http://66.249.93.99 or .104 or .147 – go on, try them – they all take you to Google’s home page.

Then tell me which one you’d rather remember?